Suicide explosions kill 39 in Iran

by Ali Akbar Dareini - Dec. 16, 2010 12:00 AMAssociated Press

TEHRAN, Iran - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near a mosque in southeastern Iran on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people, including a newborn baby, at a Shiite-mourning ceremony, state media reported.

The attack, which also wounded 90 people, took place outside the Imam Hussein Mosque in the port city of Chahbahar, near the border with Pakistan, the official IRNA news agency said.

The bombers targeted a group of worshipers at a mourning ceremony a day before Ashoura, which commemorates the seventh-century death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein, one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints.

An armed Sunni militant group called Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, claimed responsibility in a statement posted on its website. The group has carried out sporadic attacks in Iran's southeast to fight perceived discrimination against the area's Sunni minority in overwhelmingly Shiite Iran.

The group said Wednesday's attack was a second act of revenge for the execution of its leader, Abdulmalik Rigi, in June.